Bachelorette/Bachelor Parties...

We would finally be going to our first wedding in the Netherlands in late July, but first we would be going to bachelorette and bachelor parties. The “hen do” for Celine was at the end of June. We started at a bar in Haarlem for some liquid courage for the activity that would be a surprise to the bride.

On the walk to the main event, we passed these two intricate tiles.

The main event was a burlesque class taught be Elles of Bureau Burlesque who brought gloves and hip scarves for us. I was very skeptical if I could do the moves, but she was an excellent teacher who broke down the moves into easy to follow bits. The liquid courage helped to loosen us all up enough to make it a surprisingly fun workshop. 

The following Saturday, Jimmy went to Richard’s “stag party.” 

They started with a couple of hours of cycling around Hillegom on Solexes (bikes with motors) followed by a big dinner.

Despite Jimmy, Reinhardt and Michael getting lost, they had a great time.

 

Spotted in Haarlem....

It was cool to see inside some of the grand buildings as well. 

This place was fancy, but also quite tacky inside.

The Haarlem train station opened in 1839, on the Amsterdam-Rotterdam railway, the first railway line in the Netherlands,

I think it’s the classiest station in the country with separate waiting rooms for the different classes of service.

It’s very cool that there’s now a library at the station.

This Delft Blue tiled plaque was made in honor of the 100th anniversary of the train service. 

We had a great turnout for the FILTH H3 trail that afternoon from the Overveen train station. Ironically, Trix and I, the slowest runners, were the only ones who ended up doing true trail as the other runners all took a shortcut by accident. Afterwards, we had a long circle and BBQ.

A police officer stopped by our circle to make sure we weren’t causing any trouble.

Churches in Haarlem....

The 158-foot (48-meter) tall Bakenesserkerk tower was built in 1530, while the church itself dates back to the 15th century.

The municipality of Haarlem bought the church in 2008 to house the Haarlem Archeological Service...

...which clearly inspired this modern stained glass window.

I’ve always been impressed with the exterior of St. Bavo’s Church in the Grote Markt...

...but this was the first time I’d been inside. Construction started in 1370 and finished in 1520. This organ features around 5,000 pipes. When it was built in 1738, it was the largest organ in the world.

The wooden ceiling was particularly beautiful.

I visited several other churches, including St. Joseph’s, which opened in 1843.

Cool Buildings in Haarlem....

The Gerechtsgebouw, district courthouse for Noord-Holland, was built in 1890 in a neo-Renaissance style, with its mission statement for all to see above the entrance: Justice.

While many of the courtrooms were rather sterile, this one had a lovely ceiling. 

It was great fun when a volunteer helped me into judge’s robes.

Couldn’t pass up taking a selfie with this Haarlem resident.

Haarlem has lots of beautiful historic buildings...

...and lots of cool old signs...

...and plaques.

Open Monument Day in Haarlem...

The following weekend Jimmy was helping Veronica move, so I went alone to Haarlem for Open Monument Day before going to a FILTH Hash that afternoon. I stopped by the tourist information office to ask about a suggested route to see the open buildings and they kindly suggested that I leave my backpack with them to lighten my load.

My first stop was the Haarlem Stadhuis, which is rumored to be the country’s oldest city hall. Dating back to 1370, it was filled with incredible objects including this beautiful clock...

...a giant whale bone...

...stained glass...

...elaborate carvings...

...gruesome artwork (the King’s eye is being removed after the Prince was accused of a crime and the King shared the penalty)...

...and beautiful tiled fireplaces.

It was especially impressive to get to stand in the Gravenzaal (Count’s Hall), which has been used for city council meetings for over 600 years. 

Normally the only way I could take a selfie inside this incredible building would be to be invited to one of the many weddings performed there. As that’s unlikely to ever happen, I was lucky that it’s open to the public annually.

The Flower Parade: Before and After...

For the first time in several years, we missed the Flower Parade. Luckily that didn’t mean that I missed seeing this year’s floats. I was thrilled to again have the opportunity to go on a tour behind-the-scenes to see the floats being made. This year’s theme was Dutch Design. As you can see, building floats can be backbreaking work.

It’s incredible that the floats are decorated entirely by volunteers in just three days. Although we missed seeing the floats traveling down the road, we saw them parked in Haarlem the following day before we met up with hashers to go on a bike hash. So these photos truly do depict the before (completion of the floats) and after (the parade).

This float was for the Efteling Amusement Park.

Apparently this fellow’s head went up and down when the float was moving.

This was for the Dutch city of Hillegom...

...and here’s some birds found in the Netherlands.

This represents Escher’s Bird Fish from 1938.